Rotary, Lions, Freemasons…: what are the differences?

Rotary, Lions, Kiwanis, Round Table, Masonic lodges, business clubs: they all bring together people who want to move forward, but not for the same reasons or in the same way. Some serve the community, others personal reflection, others still business development. Here is what sets them apart, what they can bring you, and what not to expect from them.

Three very different families

Service clubs

Service clubs bring together people from different professions who organise charitable activities and meet regularly, often over a meal. Each club is autonomous, but belongs to an international organisation.

Rotary

Founded in Chicago in 1905 by lawyer Paul Harris, Rotary is the oldest service club. Its motto: Service above Self. It claims more than a million members worldwide and, according to La Libre, more than 260 clubs in Belgium. Its major causes are well known: eradicating polio, water, peace, education. Members are traditionally chosen to represent different trades within the same club.

Lions

Founded in 1917, also in Chicago, Lions Clubs International has the motto We serve. According to La Libre, it had 281 clubs and about 7,500 members in Belgium, with local activities (food banks, help for disabled or elderly people) and international ones (sight, vaccination). Its leaders stress that membership is by invitation, but that they mainly look for people willing to get involved.

Kiwanis

Founded in Detroit in 1915, Kiwanis focuses on helping children. It works in a similar way to Rotary and Lions.

Round Table, Ladies' Circle and Old Tablers

Born in England in 1927, Round Table is for young men, generally up to 40 or 45 depending on the country. Former members continue in clubs such as the Old Tablers or the 41 Club. Ladies' Circle is the women's equivalent. It is often the most accessible way in for someone in their thirties.

Soroptimist and Zonta

These two international service clubs bring together professional women and champion women's rights and independence in particular.

Freemasonry

Freemasonry defines itself as an initiatory and philosophical society. Its members meet in lodges, at regular intervals, for ritual meetings and discussions of papers presented by members. It describes itself as discreet, not secret: the obediences have addresses and spokespeople, but everyone remains free to reveal their membership or not.

The main obediences in Belgium

According to a count published by La Libre in 2018, Belgium had six main obediences:

These figures date from 2018: they give an order of magnitude, not a current picture.

How do you join?

You do not simply ‘sign up’. Candidates write to an obedience or are introduced by a member, meet several Masons for interviews, and the lodge then votes on their admission before an initiation ceremony. The process often takes several months. In most obediences you must be at least 21 (18 at Lithos, 25 at the Women's Grand Lodge according to La Libre). An annual subscription and regular attendance are expected.

What to know

• Belgian obediences are numerous and diverse: some require belief in a Supreme Being, others do not; some are men only, others women only or mixed.
• The Catholic Church still considers membership of Freemasonry incompatible with the Catholic faith: the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith restated this in November 2023.
• The obediences stress that a lodge is not a place to do business or seek favours. The Grand Master of the Grand Orient of Belgium said in 2018 that trying to influence elected officials who are Masons would be a mistake.

Business networks

If your goal is to grow a business, these networks are designed for exactly that, and they say so openly.

• BNI: founded in the United States in 1985, it brings together weekly groups where only one person per profession is admitted; everyone commits to referring the others. Effective for service businesses, demanding in time.
• Chambers of commerce: BECI in Brussels, Voka in Flanders, the Walloon chambers of commerce. Events, training, trade missions abroad.
• JCI (Junior Chamber International): for 18- to 40-year-olds, a mix of community projects, leadership training and networking.
• Investor and entrepreneur clubs: Cashflow clubs, Le Club, associations of self-employed people such as UCM or UNIZO.

‘Private success clubs’: the case of Kevin Trudeau's GIN

Alongside service clubs and lodges, you will find ‘secret clubs’ online that promise to reveal the secrets of the rich. The best known is the Global Information Network (GIN), launched in the late 2000s by American Kevin Trudeau, a seller of books and products through infomercials. His story holds lessons both ways: useful ideas, delivered by an exceptional salesman, and a business model not to copy.

What Kevin Trudeau brings

• A gift for communication. He was one of the best-known infomercial presenters in the United States. His shows are a textbook case of storytelling and selling: a clear promise, a personal story, a call to action.
• Memory techniques. His Mega Memory course in the 1990s brought classic methods to a wide audience: association, peg words, the memory palace, the Major System for numbers. A memory trainer considers it useful for beginners, provided you practise, while noting that these techniques are not Trudeau's own and do not give a ‘photographic’ memory.
• Making personal development classics accessible. Your Wish Is Your Command draws on Napoleon Hill (The Law of Success, Think and Grow Rich) and the law of attraction: knowing exactly what you want, writing it down, keeping your attention on your goals, persevering, cultivating gratitude.
• The urge to come together. His supporters highlight the energy of the events and meeting people with the same goals, in many countries.

How GIN worked

• It presented itself as a ‘secret society’ or ‘private success club’, based in Nevis (Caribbean), with a programme built on the law of attraction (‘Your Wish Is Your Command’).
• According to available descriptions, membership cost about $1,000 to $1,500 to join, then $150 a month, with around twelve levels; the highest, giving personal access to the founder, was advertised at $100,000.
• Members earned commissions on the joining fees and dues of the people they recruited.
• Trudeau spoke of a ‘council’ of some thirty anonymous millionaires and billionaires guiding the club.

What the US courts said

• Kevin Trudeau had already been convicted in the early 1990s (bad cheques, credit card fraud), then sanctioned several times by the FTC, the US consumer protection authority, for misleading advertising. In 2008 a court ordered him to pay about $37.6 million over his weight-loss book.
• Having failed to pay, he was found guilty of criminal contempt in November 2013 and sentenced in March 2014 to 10 years in prison. He was released in 2022.
• In 2014 a court-appointed receiver took control of GIN. According to reports of the proceedings, the model ‘likely amounted to an illegal pyramid scheme’ and the famous council of millionaires did not exist. Investigators spoke of about $110 million collected from more than 35,000 members. As far as we know, this was not a criminal conviction of GIN as a company.
• Since his release, Trudeau has again been running a ‘relaunched’ GIN, whose website is still active. According to a press release issued by his own side in December 2024, a settlement with the FTC now caps his debt at $8 million; we found no independent confirmation.

Which one to choose?

The right network is the one you will enjoy attending for years. Regularity builds trust, and trust is what gives a network its value. See also surrounding yourself with successful people.

Where to find these services

• Rotary InternationalFind a Rotary club near you
• Lions Clubs InternationalThe Lions' international website, with a club locator
• Kiwanis InternationalKiwanis' international website
• BNIInternational business referral network
• JCIJunior Chamber International for 18- to 40-year-olds
• BECIThe Brussels Chamber of Commerce

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This article is educational and is not personal investment, tax or legal advice. Figures change: check them with the sources cited or a licensed professional before deciding. Read the full disclaimer.